The Festetics Castle in Dég – a guardian of Masonic heritage, with a park as large as New York’s Central Park

When most people think of the Festetics family’s castles, the first one that comes to mind is usually the one located in Keszthely. During the 18th century, the family rose from the ranks of the lesser nobility to become one of the most influential and wealthiest landowning families in Transdanubia. The sons of Kristóf Festetics, who commissioned the construction of the Keszthely palace, purchased the estate in Dég in 1769. The property became the possession of Lajos Festetics (1732–1797), the younger son, thus establishing the Dég branch of the family¹. The manor house standing here was built in 1772 as a summer residence. At that time, Lajos Festetics and his family lived in Toponár, in rather modest circumstances considering their financial status. He built his fortune during the Napoleonic Wars through the sale of grain produced on his estates.

Lajos had ambitious dreams. Among his plans were the connection of model farms and the development of the road network. He entrusted the task to Ferenc Kováts, an engineer educated in France, although the project was only realised after Lajos’s death. The estates were inherited by Antal Festetics, who also took over the management of their development. In the 19th century, the expansion of the road network and the improvement of model farms began. The most spectacular element was the postal road arriving from Veszprém². Alongside the 12-kilometre-long, perfectly straight road, a tree-lined avenue was created, at the end of which the castle could already be seen from a great distance. The reconstruction of the palace was completed by 1812. The architect was Mihály Pollack, born in Vienna, whose name is associated with some of the masterpieces of Hungarian Classicist architecture. The Dég Castle is one of Hungary’s most impressive and oldest Classicist castles. It is a U-shaped, two-storey building with a basement, featuring Doric columns and a six-column portico opening towards the garden³. Its appearance strongly resembles the Hungarian National Museum, which is no coincidence: both were designed by Mihály Pollack, and the museum is considered his greatest masterpiece. In the western side projection of the castle, at the end of a nearly 30-metre-long corridor, there is an oval room that served as the ceremonial hall⁴. This was unusual, as such rooms were typically located along the central axis of the building. Opposite it was the oval-shaped bathroom, whose ceiling decorations resemble the patterns of the Calvinist church on Kálvin Square in Budapest. The oval shapes, the sun symbol appearing on the façade, and the eagle motifs found in several parts of the castle all refer to Freemasonry. Antal Festetics was indeed a member of this movement. According to tradition, after the Habsburg Empire banned Freemasonry in 1795, Festetics Antal purchased the remaining collection of documents in 1805, which was preserved within the walls of the castle until 1944.